An open letter to Rahul Dravid

Dear Rahul,

Very few in this country will have as enviable a task as you have. You carry the hopes and aspirations of a billion Indians. Why are we so hungry to savour success? If you ask me, there's a simple social background. India as a country has always been ravaged by the attacking foreigners and as a result we have grown wary of 'losing'. This mindset has been passed on through the centuries and as a result, while we do not have many victories to celebate, when they come, we are overjoyed and we hero-worship people who made it happen.

You will now know why the Indian cricketers could do nothing wrong after the 1983 World Cup. Because that triumph was a vindication of the dreams of the Indians that we could win in world stage too. As a result, one win amidst several defeats is also welcomed with open arms.

You will agree that the Indian cricket team has been like the proverbial character - "when she's good, she's very very good and when she's bad, she's horrid". It is time the team gets the consistency of a world beater and you have proven in the recent two series that the present team has in it to be a very competitive side which can demolish the opposition.

Rahul - I have admired you ever since you started playing for Karnataka and the way you inched your way up through the crisis of being labelled as no-good for ODIs to now captain the national side. You have had an amazing career and I do hope that 2007 will bring the biggest Cup one can ever hold, in your hands.

Only you will know what it means to carry the burden of the prayers of a billion Indians but we know that you and your team will pull off some memorable wins in this edition of the World Cup including hopefully in the finals.

You people know what best has to be done on the cricket field. Off the field, I can only advise one thing - "Play to Win". Never ever lose hope. When the country is with you, you can't!!

All the best and bring the Cup home.

Dhruv
on behalf of the billion Indians